OF MY JOURNEYING TO THE CITY OF AGRA; OF MY COMING THITHER, AND OF THE
PERSON I FOUND THERE.
Now when I had read these letters that were come to me (and that not
without great sorrow and anguish, yea, and many tears also, as well
for the pain I had caused to my honoured father as for his loss), I
did set myself to indite an answer to them in good time, although
knowing well that I could not despatch this until I myself should go
down to Surat for the shipping season. And first I perceived, from a
saying of Mr Sternhold in his second epistle, that he looked for me to
have espoused Madam Heliodora by this time, since he asked when he and
the tenants should have the honour and pleasure of bidding me welcome
and my noble lady. But it seemed to me that now, still less than
before, could I endure to set down particularly the history of my
presumption and the issue on’t, and thus I did but remark in my answer
that I was not yet wed, and did not believe that I ever should be so.
And this I said, not at all imagining that they would put upon my
words the interpretation they did, for they supposed my letter wrote
in the natural impatience of a lover made angry by some delay in the
realising his hopes, and took it to mean that my marriage was but
postponed for a season, and must take place at some time. And this
wan’t all, for I took the occasion of Captain Freeman’s carrying his
ship home to send by him a considerable sum of money out of my savings
to Mr Sternhold, desiring him to place it out at interest in such way
as he thought best for my cousin’s benefit, leaving her to believe, if
so it might be, that ’twas some provision that my father had been able
to make for her. But Dorothy, scenting a plot through some chance word
let slip by my good friend, did, as I heard afterwards, demand to know
the whole truth of the matter, and so refused altogether to touch the
money (which I had designed as a portion for her, whether she married
or remained a maid, that so she might not have the pain to find
herself depending on me, the man that had rejected her), desiring Mr
Sternhold to apply the whole sum to the partial releasing of the
estate from its burdens. All which was wrote to me in due time by Mr
Sternhold, he being in some trouble of spirit touching it.
Now in that I was eager to spare my cousin all the humiliation in my
power, providing for her as though she had been my own sister, you may
see cause to commend me, but so unalterably fixed did I deem my
resolution never to wed her, that I considered it needful to impress
her once again with the same, and this I did, as now seems to me, in
the rudest and most churlish manner imaginable. For when I writ to Mr
Sternhold my answer, having first desired him to request of my cousin,
as an especial favour granted to myself, to continue dwelling in the
Hall, and to retain in her service Mrs Skipwith and a sufficient
quantity of servants, and had begged of him to furnish her, out of my
moneys in his hands, with a convenient allowance for the maintenance
of herself and the household, I ended my letter thus:--
Have the Goodness, Sir, to make my most respectfull Compliments to Mrs
_Brandon_, and acquaint her from me of my desire--viz., that should
she hereafter receive any Proposition of Marryage that may at the same
time be agreeable to herself, and such as is sanction’d, Sir, by you,
she shall at once intertayn and accept the same, assur’d of the
Approvall and Consent of her loving Cosin and Gardien,
Ed. Carlyon.
As much as to say, _Warn her that Mr Carlyon is beyond her reach, and
that if she can assure herself of another match, ’twill be well for
her to accept of it, while she is yet young and handsome!_
I don’t know what devil possessed me to write this, for sure, ’twas a
cruel thing thus to wring the heart that, as I knew, had never beat
for any but myself; but when I had wrote it, I considered it again,
and judged it to be an extreme neat and well-turned piece, and so
hugged me in my self-conceit, like a brain-sick fool as I was. It may
have been (for I conceive that this should well please the devil
aforesaid) that I was desirous to render my innocent cousin as
miserable as myself, who was but suffering the due reward of a foolish
presumption and of a stubborn and stiff-necked resistance to the wise
rulings of Providence.
Now when my time at Amidavat was ended, and I went down to Surat, and
opened to Mr Martin the condition of my affairs, showing him the
account of the wealth that I now owned, and also of that which was
still embarked in divers trading ventures, my good friend, after
hearing all that I had to say, and asking me certain questions
thereupon, shook his head sadly.
“_Vertulesse gentilitie is worse than beggerie_,” says he.
“Pray, sir,” says I, “what would you have more? I am essaying to
employ my savings in such ways as you’ll approve,” and I told him
concerning that sum I was about sending home for to provide a portion
for Dorothy; “have you anything against me in this particular?”
“Ned,” says Mr Martin, “_Tread upon a woman, and she’ll turne_. Ay,
and _He that will not when he may, when hee would he shall have nay_.”
“Sir,” said I, “you deal in riddles to-night.”
“Do I so, Ned?” quoth he. “Perhaps you will read one of my riddles
when you find out that a woman to whom love is owed an’t to be bought
off with money, and the other when you come to desire that which you
now despise. Are these still riddles to you, lad? Well, well; _Young
men thinke that olde be fooles, but old men do know that young men be
fooles_.”
“I thank you, sir,” says I, half-vexed and half-diverted with his
persistence, but I was used to bear with the strangeness of his
humour, and loved him far too well to take offence at him. And he,
perceiving that my mind was made up upon the topic of marriage, spake
no more to me thereupon, but fell to asking me whether I would choose,
if I might, to visit the court of the great Mogul emperor in this next
year. And I making answer that such a journey should gratify one of my
dearest wishes, he told me that there was a project on foot for
sending a _caphalay_ to Agra, which is a prodigious great city situate
on the river Geminy,[103] and whither the princes of this house do
always love to resort. Such _caphalays_ are wont to be sent pretty
frequently from Surat to several towns in the inland country, but
ordinarily they are headed only by _banyans_ or other Indosthans. With
this one, on the contrary, there was to go four English merchants as
ambassadors, for to bear to the emperor Auren Zeeb certain gifts on
the Committee’s behalf, and obtain from him the confirmation of divers
privileges granted some time since to the Factory, that his governor
at Surat had neglected to recognise. Two ancient and experienced
persons among the senior merchants had been appointed to the conduct
of the party, and Mr Spender, now a full merchant for more than a
year, was also to go, as being related to Mr Secretary, who had made
interest for him with his honour the President.
“Now,” says Mr Martin, “if you desire it, Ned, I don’t doubt but I
shall be able to have you named as the fourth, and ’twill be an
agreeable jaunt for you. You are well enough seen[104] in both the
Persian and Indosthan tongues to make yourself of use, and you have
already enjoyed more experience of business than most young persons of
your age, while you stand to gain more in this.”
“I’ll endeavour myself to gain all the knowledge I may, sir,” said I.
“I fear lest your life at Amidavat han’t done that for you that I
wished,” said Mr Martin, somewhat sadly, “but I would fain hope that
the change I look for will soon come.”
I felt myself took aback by his words respecting my life while away
from Surat, and muttered something, I don’t know what, saying that I
wan’t no worse than others.
“No worse!” saith he. “But I would have you better than others, Ned.
_A man far from his good is nigh his harme_, and I fear lest it be so
with you. You should be a man now, lad, in virtue of your years; but
there seems to me to be much trouble before you yet.”
“But you will have me made of the party for Agra, sir?” says I, a
little fearful lest he should be repenting of his offer.
“All that I can compass shall be done for you in the matter, Ned. God
grant it may be for good, and not again for evil.”
Captain Freeman then coming in for to bid us farewell before going on
board of his ship at Swally, we left speaking of the matter, and
turned to other topics. But Mr Martin was as good as his word in
speaking for me to the Council, and thereafter, in due course, all was
appointed as I most desired, and I was given the vacant place in the
party that was about being made up. The shipping season was now at its
height, when the life in our Factory at Surat is the busiest
imaginable, and I had already had much ado to see to my private
matters, being forced at last to trust them almost entirely to the
discretion of that good friend of mine, Captain Freeman, than whom, as
I may truly say, there never was a discreeter person. He being at last
departed, and with him all the other India ships, sailing in company
for fear of pirates and other enemies, we were at liberty to set about
our preparations, which being finished, we started on our journey.
In our company was there we four merchants, together with twelve
English soldiers for the better protecting of our goods and the rich
gifts we carried for the emperor, and also several _banyans_ with
their servants and followers. It was counted proper for us to travel
in some state, with banners borne before us, as persons of quality in
the East use to do, and with a sufficient retinue of attendants. The
Europe merchants in the Indies do never journey but they carry with
them their own cooks, both for the avoiding of danger from poison and
for the better satisfying of their palates, and many other servants
also are needful, for to look to the beasts and the merchandises and
for to prepare the night lodging. Journeying by way of Brodra[105]
and Cambaya, both of ’em considerable towns, and so to the Company’s
house at Amidavat, was all old ground to me, but when, after some
days’ rest at the place last named, we passed on and came into the
country of the Rashpoots,[106] I found there much that was new to me.
And these Rashpoots, or as some render the word, _Rasboutes_, are a
kind of highwaymen, or Tories, such as gain their livelihood by
attempting and plundering travellers, so that it behoved us all to
keep good watch against ’em. And this was to us a matter of no small
anxiety, so as we were almost fain to ask for a guard of soldiers from
the Moorish governor of Oudyepour,[107] which was a great town we
come to, but refrained, fearing lest they should prove worse to us
than the robbers themselves, being, like all the Mogul armies, ill
paid and worse disciplined. But it so fell out, thanks to the kind
care of Providence, that we were able to travel with little
molestation or stoppage, having at Amidavat changed our Europe clothes
for garments made after the Indian fashion, and so reached safely the
great city of Agra, the goal of our journeying.
This city is a place of prodigious force, being defended on every side
by a good wall of red freestone and a ditch of thirty fathoms broad.
The circuit of the walls is extreme extensive, and the streets very
fine and spacious, though to our eyes the common houses and shops seem
mean enough, and in divers cases the upper rooms, projecting out on
either side of the way, do meet overhead in the midst, making, as it
were, a vaulted passage for to go through. Of public edifices there is
a prodigious quantity, and these so fair and stately as ’tis said no
city in Asia can surpass them, both in the fashion of their
architecture (which is after the Persian style), and the conveniency
of their ordering. Chief among these in our opinion on our first
arriving was the eighty _caravan-serawes_[108] or inns of the place,
whereof we chose one, on the advice of them that knew the city well,
and there took up our abode, finding therein such noble lodging as I
had never imagined to myself. For these _caravan-serawes_ are many of
’em of three storeys high, with fine sets of rooms for travellers,
together with good vaults and cellars for their goods, and suitable
stabling for their beasts, and all the chambers opening one into
another with private doors and galleries for the conveniency of those
that occupy ’em. To each _caravan-serawe_ is there a keeper appointed,
for the better safeguarding of the goods therein and the comfort of
the travellers, and he, in return for the payment of a decent sum of
money, will provide for you both forage for your beasts and victuals
and firing for yourself, and all this with mighty care and respect.
We then, having settled ourselves in this place, did send word to the
emperor of our being come, and ask his permission to wait upon him for
the presenting our letters of commendation, and did also send to
certain Armenians that did represent the Honourable Company in this
city, that they might come and examine the merchandises we had
brought, and carry away musters of them for to show to them that dealt
with ’em. And this business being ended, we did set to work to make
ourselves at home (as they say), as being likely to spend some months
in the place (for if Justice be slow anywhere, sure her course is
scarce swift enough to be perceivable here), and so divided among
ourselves the apartments that we held, taking each two chambers, very
decent and seemly, and a part of the gallery before ’em.
Now the day after our coming, a Brachmine,[109] which is an Indian
priest (for such are commonly used for clerks and messengers among the
Moguls), brought to us the emperor’s reply to our letter, bidding us
welcome very graciously, and counselling us to take certain days to
refresh ourselves after our journey, and then he would admit us to an
audience. And this counsel we followed, diverting ourselves with going
about and examining the place, with one of the Armenians, a pretty
young fellow enough, and one that spake English passably, having been
bred up in the house they have at Surat, for our _druggerman_,[110]
which is interpreter. For there are in Agra a prodigious number of
_metchids_ or _mosqueys_,[111] where the Moguls used to worship, and
chief among ’em that wonder of the world and delight of all
beholders,[112] built by the late emperor Shaw Jehaun,[113] the
father of Auren Zeeb, for the glorification and remembering of his
queen. But so strict is the watch maintained over these temples, that
it cost us prodigious pains to see more than the outside only of one
or two, and this with much reluctance on the part of their keepers and
of those that we found worshipping therein. Likewise we visited many
tombs of holy men among the Moors, that are held in great honour and
veneration, and divers fine public baths, where you may be bathed and
anointed in the greatest luxury imaginable for a trifling small sum.
Then lastly, when the day was come that the emperor had appointed, we
took our presents that we had brought for his majesty, and being borne
in _palenkeens_ in our best array, started for to come to his court.
The palace of the Great Mogul is a mighty pretty piece of building,
well fortified against all attempts, and ornamented with much curious
work after the Moorish fashion. Passing in at a great gate that looks
towards the west, we were showed the _cistery_,[114] that is, the
emperor’s place of decreeing justice, where all men, even the poorest,
may demand admittance, and seek redress at his hands. And next we saw
a great tower, covered all over with gold, where the emperor’s
treasury is kept, and after this they brought us into a court paved
with marble of divers colours, very pretty, and at the upper end
thereof, under a rich portal with pillars of silver, we found the
Great Mogul himself, sitting upon a platform with silver railings, and
a carpet thereon fringed with gold. So bright and shining was the
magnificence of this throne and of all the appointments on’t, that for
a time our eyes were verily dazzled thereby; but I was able to
perceive that the emperor was a man beyond middle age, very grave and
reverend of countenance, and most majestical of person. His habit
consorted well with his air, being a cassock of white satin, very
delicately flowered, and oddly wrought with broidery of silk and gold,
and a _shash_[115] of rich woollen stuff about his middle. His
_turbant_ was of gold cloth, with a string of great pearls woven
therein, and a plume set with very fine diamonds in the forefront
thereof. Round about the platform whereon he sat was all the
_ombrahs_[116] of his kingdom, and many famous soldiers and generals,
all in very rich apparel.
The emperor received us with much affability, and accepting our gifts,
heard what we had to say, I being interpreter, and then dismissed us
very graciously, assuring us that our matters should have his
attention before very long. And we returning to our lodging, found a
great store of goods sent thither after us, for this is the custom of
the East, but we must needs put them to the credit of the Company,
whose servants we were, and not keep them ourselves. Bringing these
gifts from his majesty come a Europe gentleman of his household, a
Frenchman as I believe, that had studied medicine at the great school
of Montpellier, and was now, after many wanderings, become the
emperor’s physician--a very ingenious person, and well skilled in all
manner of curious knowledge. He having been of late absent from the
city, visiting one of the emperor’s sons at Dhilly, had but just heard
of our arrival, and came to visit upon us with great kindness,
rejoicing that he might once more find himself in the company of
Christians. And he sat and talked with us until very late, delighting
us mightily with the variety of his information and the extent of his
travels, and departed at last, being as earnestly desired to visit
upon us again as he himself was anxious to do this. So great was the
esteem (and that, as I believe confidently, well-grounded) that the
emperor felt for this gentleman, that he made him the depositary of
all his secrets, and even sent him on divers occasions to confer with
Mr Kidder, the head of our party, as to the immunities that were
desired to be confirmed. And thus it arrived that the doctor became a
very near friend to us all, and opened and explained to us many things
that we could not understand, and made himself in general so needful
to us, that we felt that day to be empty wherein he came not to pass
some time at our lodging.
Now upon one of these days was it that Mr Kidder and I rid abroad upon
an elephant, which beast’s paces are extreme disagreeable to them that
han’t accustomed themselves thereto, so that when we came to
dismounting by the means of a short ladder, I, being somewhat giddy,
catched a slip, and fell to the ground. As it so chanced, I was not
hurt in nowise, but only my watch, the which was sorely crushed and
broken in the fall. And I was the more grieved at this, that the watch
was a gift from Mr Martin, he having sent for it as far as to
Swisse,[117] intending it for me on my return from Goa, and keeping
it by him all the time wherein he knew not whether I were alive or
dead, gave it to me before my going to Amidavat, and a mighty fine
piece of workmanship it was, and cost him a great sum of money. I then
lamenting loudly the loss of so precious a thing from among my
possessions, when as we sat the next evening under the colonnade
before our lodging, our friend the physician bid me take comfort,
saying that there was a Christian prisoner in the court that was
either a Frenchman or a Swisser, and was most cunning in mending of
clocks and in all work of that kind. And I asking where I might find
this person, he promised to direct him to me, and that as soon as
might be. And being thus a little comforted, I put away the watch for
the night, little dreaming into what company it should bring me.
But the next day, towards noon, when I was in my own chamber, smoking
that strange fashion of pipe that they call _hucca_,[118] I was
disturbed by my servant Loll Duss, who come to say that the workman
sent by the gentleman physician (this is their civil and respectful
way in speaking of the doctor) was arrived and waited my pleasure.
Then I bade Loll Duss carry him to the gallery, being minded myself to
talk there with him as he worked, and learn through what strange turns
of Fortune’s wheel he was come into such a plight. Going out to him,
therefore, I found him a person of a very fine stature and an air of
great nobility, though poorly apparelled in a Moorish habit, his eyes
dark and piercing, his hair and beard long and untrimmed. And he
receiving me with a prodigious low reverence, as elegant as any I had
seen in my lord marquis his court at St Thomas, I felt myself moved to
return his civility, and wondered what his quality might be. Showing
him then the watch, and explaining how I had broke it, he sat down and
took out his tools and set to work with great skill and diligence, I
sitting by and watching him.
“’Tis easy to see, sir, that you were bred to this trade,” says I to
him at last in French. He left his work for a moment, and looked upon
me with a smile.
“Not precisely, sir,” says he, and said no more for the time; but
shortly after, as though fearing he had been churlish, he observed--
“When I was still a young boy, sir, my parents were compelled by
calamity to seek refuge in Swisserland, in a town wherein near three
parts of the inhabitants lived by watch-making. Being always of a
lively and inquisitive constitution, I was used to go continually in
and out of the houses and watch the people at their work, and so
gathered some slight knowledge of their craft, which my parents
remarking allowed me to be trained in’t like any ’prentice-boy of the
place, thinking that I might one day be thankful for the power of
working in this sort, which indeed I have now proved.”
“I had not thought that one of your trade should find much to do
here,” says I.
“The emperor, as indeed all the Moguls, hath a very pretty taste in
clocks and watches,” he made answer, “and owns a prodigious quantity
of ’em; but there is no man here can put ’em in order but I, and
though not bred thereto, I am thankful to possess the skill for this
honest toil.”
Now all this was to me somewhat of a perplexity, for though it ben’t
counted wrong among us for a gentleman to engage himself in trade,
especially that to the East, where no apprentisage is needed, yet it
should assuredly be considered disgraceful for him to exercise such a
craft as this. But on that head I kept silence, being convinced that I
had a gentleman before me.
“Sir,” I said, “I perceive that your quality is above your present
situation. May I ask to whom I have the honour of speaking?”
“Sir,” says he, “with all deference to you, and recognising your kind
intentions in asking it, I must still withhold my name. I care little
for the blows of Fortune myself, but I have friends that I desire to
spare from any pain or disgrace that might be supposed to attend upon
the general discovery of my present manner of life, and for their
sakes I am resolved not to disclose myself.”
“I will respect your wishes, sir,” said I, much taken with his
manners, and desiring the more to discover his real name and quality.
“Should you desire me to attend upon you again, sir, for any matter of
this kind,” says he, holding up the watch, “you will hear of me by the
name of the _Ferringhee_,[119] which the Moguls call me, meaning
Frenchman, as I suppose. I am considered to be a guest at the
emperor’s court, and to receive my victuals from his table; but when
he is vexed or busy I am at times forgot, and must be thankful to earn
my bread as I may.”
“At the least, sir,” said I, when his work wan’t far short of being
finished, “you will stay and give us the honour of your company to
dinner? I can answer for my chief that he will be rejoiced to bid you
welcome.”
“No, sir,” says he, again smiling, “while I withhold my name from you,
I won’t place myself at your table. What security have you that I an’t
some mean fellow masquerading as a person of quality?”
Thus he ended his work, and restored me the watch, that was now become
whole and sound once more, and so prepared to depart. Now I was in
some disquiet, fearing to offend him by offering him money, and yet
not desiring to send a servant to settle the matter; but he, seeing
the strait I was in, named a convenient price, and received it from me
with great gravity, saying only that it would provide for his wants
for a week, and so departed, saluting me very civilly, but without any
servility. And I, remembering thereafter his words and looks, mused
long concerning him, wondering who he might be, so that when our
friend the doctor arrived that evening I was eager to discover from
him all that he knew. And first I desired him to tell me this
gentleman’s name, if he were acquainted on’t.
“If I know it,” says he, “’tis in strict secrecy, and not to be
revealed, but that I won’t tell you. Yet this I may disclose, that
this unfortunate gentleman declared his name and quality to certain
Hollanders that were sojourning here, asking their good offices with
the emperor for his release, but they repaid his confidence only with
mockery, and jeered both at him and at the friends whose honour he
desires to spare. Since that time, he has vowed not to disclose
himself to any but one of his own countrymen.”
“But how came he here, sir?” said I.
“Why, that I may tell you,” says he. “He was sent ambassador from some
factory on the coast of Malabar to the princes of these parts, and had
the ill luck to visit Seva Gi, the Moratty rebel, on his way hither.
Having won his favour and obtained great countenance from him, he came
on to Dhilly, where the emperor then was, but his majesty had him at
once arrested and clapped in prison, accounting him a spy of Seva Gi.
After some time, his imprisonment was made less rigorous, and now ’tis
permitted him to go about within the city as he lists, though the
emperor hath often looked black at him when news come of Seva Gi’s
successes in the war. He will hearken to no entreaties to let him go,
even from myself, and ’tis my continual fear lest he shall revenge
himself on him in the event of any further victory of the rebel’s.”
“He appears to be a very agreeable person, and one of good parts and
conditions,” says I.
“Agreeable? Yes, truly,” said the doctor, “and with an air of
contentment also, despite his trials. Of his parts and conditions you
may judge by this, that the emperor thought so highly thereof that he
would fain have given him high preferment in his army, would he but
turn renegado, but he hath always steadfastly refused this compliance.
’Tis a brave man and a patient,” and the doctor sighed heavily; “but I
see no chance of his ever being released, nor can I help him to’t. It
may be that you, sir,” turning to me, “will be able to bring some
solace to this unhappy gentleman by the pleasure of your company and
discourse. He is a Hugonot, like yourself, and you should therefore
the more readily become friends.”
At this point the doctor was engaged in discourse by Mr Kidder, and I
was left to ponder over the hard fortunes of this gentleman, whose
appearance and carriage had already aroused in me so much interest.
Now as I pondered, it seemed to me that I had heard some part of this
history before, though I could not at first decide in my mind when or
where this should have been. Considering silently with myself the
discourse of our friendly physician, I lit on some two or three words
that he had last said, which seemed to stick in my mind and would not
be dislodged. _He is a Hugonot, like yourself_,--when had I heard this
before? For some time I could not recall it, but at last, repeating
them several times in my mind, there come back to me the recollection
of that morning when I had stood with Madam Heliodora upon the
_veranda_ at St Thomas, and had heard from her lips those words that
had made my life since that time a dreary desert. ’Twas in these very
words that she had spoke to me touching that gentleman to whom she was
betrothed, the person that, as Mr Martin had showed me, I had hated
ever since then with a sullen hatred,--the Viscount de Galampré. Was
this gentleman he? Now at first, thinking thus, I was very much
tumbled up and down in my mind, finding myself unable to reconcile my
hitherto antipathy to Madam Heliodora’s servant, with the kindness
that now possessed me on behalf of that _Ferringhee_, as he called
himself, and I thought long upon the matter, coming at last to no
decision, save that I must hear from his own lips the truth or
falsehood of this phantasy of mine.
Having thus determined, I found next day a ring that Mr Marigny had
given to me on our parting at Maderas, whereof the diamond that was
set therein was become loose, and sent Loll Duss to seek for him that
was called the _Ferringhee_, and beg of him to wait upon me once more.
It wan’t long before he brought him again to my chamber, but to me it
seemed a prodigious length of time, so eager was I to be confirmed or
contradicted in my guess. But when he was set down, and I had showed
him the ring, and explained what lacked therein, I began to cast about
in my mind with great uneasiness as to the manner in which I should
put to him my question, seeing that once already he had refused me his
name, and might deem me unmannerly and prying in asking it again. But
while I hummed and hawed, and cast about for some way to begin, he
spared me by speaking himself.
“I perceive that this is a French ring, sir,” says he.
“’Twas from a French gentleman I had it, sir,” says I, “on my leaving
St Thomas.”
“Sir,” says he, laying aside his work and looking upon me eagerly,
“you have visited St Thomas? You are acquainted with the French
inhabitants there, with my lord Marquis of Tourvel, with mademoiselle
his daughter, perhaps?” regarding me all the while with such an air as
made me think of some poor wretch that hath been slowly starved, and
sees food brought suddenly within his reach. But I was minded to try
him further, and so said, as if angry--
“I have the honour of that lady’s acquaintance, sir. May I ask by what
right you inquire concerning her?”
“By what right?” cries he, prodigious angry, and I had almost looked
for him to strike me. “By the highest right of all, sir. Mademoiselle
de Tourvel is my betrothed wife.”
“Sir,” said I, “I ask your pardon. I conceive then that you are my
lord Viscount de Galampré, of whom I heard while at St Thomas.”
“The same, sir, at your service,” saith he, but quickly, as though it
mattered not. “Tell me concerning ’em, I entreat you. For four years I
han’t received any news of ’em. Are they still at St Thomas, or no?”
I perceived then that he had never so much as heard of the fall of
that place, and took pains immediately to tell him all that I knew
touching the fortunes of its garrison (though without mentioning, as
you may well guess, my pretending to my lady’s hand), and answered all
his questions in the best way I might, and so until dinner-time, when
he rose up suddenly and would have departed, saying that he had
detained me too long, but that I entreated of him to remain and dine
with me, my companions being all gone to see the emperor’s fine
gardens. And this he accepted of with pleasure, and indeed I never saw
a man so grateful, nor so eager to hear all that I could tell him. And
so at last he departed, loading me with his thanks until I was
ashamed, and desiring to be my friend all my life.